Talking Points: 6 thoughts on the Miami Dolphins’ 2013 schedule

1. Spending $98 million in free agency gets you back in primetime. The networks wanted nothing to do with the Dolphins last year, giving them the minimum one nationally-televised game – a Thursday night in Buffalo, no less. Now the Dolphins have three primetime games, including two on Monday Night Football. And that’s a minimum of three. If they can stay in the playoff hunt through December, four of their final five games have the potential to be “flexed” into a primetime slot – two against the Jets, one each against the Patriots and Steelers.

2. The first five weeks can make, or more likely break, their season. On paper, the first five weeks look tough: at Cleveland, at Indianapolis, vs. Atlanta, at New Orleans (MNF) and vs. Baltimore. That’s three playoff teams (including one Super Bowl champion) and three gun-slinging quarterbacks (Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan and Drew Brees – four if you count Joe Flacco). The Dolphins need to tread water at 2-3 or better before their Week 6 bye. If they fall to 1-4 or worse, things could get ugly around here, quickly.

3. Dolphins won’t face any team coming off a bye. The Steelers will be on 10 days rest when they host the Dolphins on Dec. 8. And the Bucs and Saints will each get eight days of preparation for their MNF tilts against the Dolphins (as will the Fins). Meanwhile, the Panthers will only have six days to prepare for their trip to Miami on Nov. 24, and the Bengals will have four days to prepare for their Thursday night visit to South Florida.

4. The Dolphins’ travel schedule is accommodating. Only one game is west of the Eastern Time Zone – at New Orleans in Week 4. Otherwise their longest trips are to divisional rivals Buffalo and New England, plus a Week 2 trip to Indianapolis. The biggest disadvantage in the NFL is having to travel 2,000-plus miles for a game, and the Dolphins will be spared any long plane rides in 2013.

5. The travel schedule is fairly accommodating for the opponents, too. The Dolphins will have one home game with a significant advantage – the Week 11 game vs. the Chargers, who will have to travel 3,000 miles for a 1 p.m. East Coast game. The Dolphins hosted two such games last year, and won both – against Oakland and Seattle – and overall they’re 12-1 at home against West Coast teams since 1997. But their other seven opponents are Eastern Time Zone teams who won’t have to adjust their body clocks.

6. November looks soft, but December looks brutal. After hosting the Bengals on Halloween, the Dolphins will get 12 days to prepare for an in-state game against the Bucs, then host San Diego and Carolina. But December brings with it four division games – including two against the hated Jets – and three cold-weather games (at New York, at Pittsburgh, at Buffalo). Bring your mittens.